I'd always thought of the idea for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Al would be a great idea. As Dave said, the main obstacle is not the man himself or his qualifications, but the hefty price tag. Although Al may be a little embarassed and overwhelmed by such attention initially ... with him being a long time resident of La-La Land, I'm sure ultimately he'd find having his own star immensely cool. I'm sure Jon or Jay could get the necessary paperwork together easily.

You know, not everybody in Hollywood has a star on the Walk, though of course many do [Both Siegfried and Roy and Pat Sajak have one, for Gawd's sake!!]. You'd actually be surprised at who does NOT have one. George Lucas doesn't. Nor does Julia Roberts. Steven Spielberg himself only JUST got his star recently. And Tom Lehrer or Dr. Demento never got one either [okay, maybe that one's a surprise only to us Dementoids and Dementites...].

Now, if we are really serious about getting this Star, we REALLY need to promote it -- not just here on WOWAYF [an excellent start though it may be]. We will need to include many of the other Al fans sites. There are multiple Yahoo and MSN groups dedicated to Al. And of course, there's alt.music.weird-al, or AMWA -- which I see you've already hit, Dave. My only fear in posting there, of course, is a little four-letter-word beginning with "S" and ending with "TAN".

If there is a doubt that we could raise the money, let me give you some facts. Al fans Cid S. and Kevin C. participate annually in a fundraiser for Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles [CHLA], where Kevin does an unbelievable Al tribute show [Kevin's in this WA.com gallery pic with Al:
http://www.weirdal.com/kevnal.htm ]
Anyway, on October 15 of 2002, they posted announcements in several of the Weird Al groups on Yahoo that they wanted to present a check on behalf of Weird Al fans around the country and simply asked for donations. Many did indeed donate -- including several in this very forum. And by the date of the concert only FOUR weeks later, they had collected $372.27, plus donations of autographed pics of Dr. D and Al, which upon auction raised even more money, making a grand total of $460.27. [Sure, it's not $15,000, but it's not bad for sending out a couple of e-mails and collecting money for just over one month!!!]

Now, granted, donating for a charity and donating for a Star on the Walk of Fame are two different things. What motivates someone to donate to sick children may not motivate them to donate for a Star -- and vice versa. But what the above example DOES tell me is that Al's fans are naturally generous -- much like the man himself. They also know he is vastly underappreciated by the Hollywood community. What a perfect opportunity for his fans to rally to his side and give him the recognition -- in a very real and, yes, a very permanent and everlasting way -- he truly deserves for providing entertainment for well over 20 years.

WILL we make the goal? Dunno.
COULD we make the goal? I have no doubt we could.
And if we DO make it? I know a perfect place for his star. Right next to either Spike Jones' star or Stan Freberg's star -- they could be neighbors forever!

Okay, let's say, though, by some stretch we fall short of the goal. Or for some odd reason, the Walk of Fame committee does not approve the application. We can STILL give Al a star -- for less than 100 bucks!!! Check this out:
http://www.giftoffame.com/OrderYourStar.htmThe Corporate Version could be purchased and engraved with up to three lines, on which we could say something like, "From your dedicated and supportive fans -- you'll always be a star to us!" I think he'd be flattered -- but I think we'd ALL like to see him get the real thing!!

[squinching up my face for my best John Belushi impression]
"Nothing is over until WE decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the going gets tough ... ... ... ... the tough get going!! Who's with me? LET'S GO!! COME ON!! AAAAHAAHAAAAA!!!!"

Maybe Bermuda could get the contact info to whoever needs it. Or perhaps he would be willing to contact Al (or Jay) for us?

I've sent Jay a letter. We need Jay's permission anyway so I figured that was a good place to start. So when/if he replies, we'll at least know if Al agrees with us and whether we should launch the campaign.

I've designed a website and started collecting the other necessary information needed just in case, but I'll wait for Jay's approval before I do any more.

In the mean time, I'd say keep brainstorming ideas. It sounds like there is interest, so I believe a campaign can be successful!

So when/if he replies, we'll at least know if Al agrees with us and whether we should launch the campaign.

I am sure you will get an answer. How quickly? Who can tell. And I can't imagine that Al won't be supportive. I really think, since this is going to be fan driven, he will be very happy about it. :biggrin:

Thanks for all your comments. As you can see there are a lot of obstacles, a lot of paths we can choose, and a lot of work ahead of us. And of course a lot of questions left to be asked and answered.

I asked members of WAY Live, WOWAYF, and amw-a for comments and each group has been very helpful and insightful. But since not everyone belongs to all of those group, I've set up a group on Yahoo! Groups.

I'm in for at least $27... and if there's any other WAY to help... let me know!!!!!!!
Has anyone emailed Bermuda about this? Maybe he could give Jay a nudge to seriously consider it. I think John would know that we are serious!

A few people have contacted me, and it's really not my job to be involved in Al's publicity beyond his web site, or to make such suggestions to management. You guys are on your own soliciting Al or Jay, and my involvement can occur only if directed by them.

As Dave said, the main obstacle is not the man himself or his qualifications, but the hefty price tag

Well keep in mind, Al's still got to be selected by the committee first. That's not as easy as it sounds. Only about 1/10 of the applicants get selected each year. Al meets all the qualifications, but I'm sure the other 199 applicants do as well.

QUOTE

Now, if we are really serious about getting this Star, we REALLY need to promote it -- not just here on WOWAYF [an excellent start though it may be]. We will need to include many of the other Al fans sites. There are multiple Yahoo and MSN groups dedicated to Al. And of course, there's alt.music.weird-al, or AMWA -- which I see you've already hit, Dave.

Online groups and Al fan sites are a good start, but I think the real promotion needs to happen offline.

If each fan gave $27, that would require almost 556 people to donate. To put it in perspective, the largest of the Yahoo! Groups only has about 250 members. (I'm not sure how many are active.) ALCON III probably drew about 300-400 people. WOWAY has about 300 members (most aren't active). There's a lot of overlap between those communities so it's not as simple as just adding up the memberships.

Even if, say, we got as many as 228 of the online people to donate $27 each, that still leaves us halfway short of our goal, ($7500 left to raise.). A good number of people have promised donations so far, but it's been no where near 228.

So you see, it's going to be a long and hard process, and we'll need a lot of the promotion to go on offline in order to reach our goal.

But having said that, I think Al fans are up to the challenge, and capable of pulling it off, and I look forward to working with everyone to reach the goal.